A variety of prior art brake control units that provide a brake output signal to the brakes of a towed vehicle have been proposed and/or manufactured. Few, if any, of these brake control units, however, use speed inputs to provide the brake output signal. They are mostly inertia or pressure based units. Additionally, most current brake control units do not efficiently operate in conjunction with a towing vehicles anti-lock brake system to create a stable braking event.
On most brake control units if the main input is unavailable, the brake control unit will not function properly. Similarly, if a short occurs in most current control brake units, the unit will either disable itself or will shut down, further causing a potentially undesirable situation. And, if a reverse voltage is applied to most brake control units, they will be disabled. Finally, if an error occurs in the brake control unit or between the communication of the brake control unit and the towing vehicle, most systems do not have a way of notifying the operator independent of the brake control unit or storing the error for a technician's review thereof.
Most current brake control units are not integral with the towing vehicle's instrument panel. They are aftermarket units. They are not able to communicate with and communicate over existing systems within the towing vehicle. For example, these units are not able to warn an operator of an error through the towing vehicle's current warning systems. They are unable to operate with the rest of the displays on the towing vehicle's instrument panel.
Finally, most current brake control units are not effectively configurable or completely operable with a particular towing vehicle. The brake control units are unable to be configured to respond to the idiosyncrasies of a particular vehicle, they are unable to provide diagnostic data, they are unable to adjust to conditions in the environment or in the towing vehicle, and are unable to provide life-cycle data regarding the brake control unit.